Recounting Recount

OPEN IMAGE GALLERY

'And if I perish, I perish!' Dern is as superbly over the top as Mz Kitty, herself in HBO's Recount. (by hbo.com)

I remember in 2000, during the Bush v. Gore recount debacle, watching with gross car-wrecky fascination, the twistedly taut Katherine "Kitty" Harris, Fla's Secretary of State on TV.

Wow, I thought, who's gonna play her in the TV movie?

Stuck in a small but charming Texas town this past Memorial Day weekend, I excitedly searched the motel's HBO for airings of the much-a-buzzed Recount. One was already in progress.

The film recounts the time between Election Day 2000 and the U.S. Supreme Court's coronation of King George II (paint me donkey and color me biased). Sydney Pollack was originally set to direct, but after his passing, the torch went to Austin Powers' director Jay Roach. Roach was an interesting choice, and under his watch, the film teeters between recent-history docudrama and political farce, a dangerous combo any day of the week, but strangely befitting the Rove-diculous era which marked the nation's hard right turn into the dark ages.

Kevin Spacey, Denis Leary, Bob Balaban all deliver thoughtful performances, but the film belongs to Laura Dern (June's Gay Place Crush of the Month). Dern is deliciously pinched and over-the-top in the HBO original, just as Kitty herself was during so many 2000 press conferences.

Most folks who count themselves in Laura Dern's fan column, may recall their love affair beginning with Blue Velvet or Wild at Heart. Dern hooked me early on with her teen portrayals. First with her role as the girl-on-the-verge Connie in Smooth Talk, where she plays opposite an especially creepy Treat Williams as Arnold, who ends up (at least metaphorically) deflowering our heroine. And later, as the cousin of Diane Lane's character in Ladies & Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains and Foxes (yes, technically, Foxes was earlier, but I saw it later).

Even at such a young age, Dern's Method pedigree is evident through strong-woman and broken-bird characters alike. For her turn in Recount, grown-up Dern revels is Harris-ness, playing the former Florida Secretary of State as an eager-to-please politico distracted by, yet drawn to the limelight. The actress seemed giddy to be called upon to reenact some of Harris' most notable moments, and to recite her truth-is-stranger-than fiction quotes, to wit: "Now I've been thrust into an electoral tempest of historical dimensions!!!"

The film airs on HBO East three more times this month: This Friday, June 20 at 12:05am (HBO East and HBO Latino East) and next Friday, June 27, 4:30pm.

The DVD release is set for release Tuesday, August 19.